Beyonce Details Emergency C-Section: ‘I Was in Survival Mode’

Beyonce got real and raw for her history-making September 2018 Vogue cover—not only was the superstar given unprecedented control over her cover story, the first U.S. issue to be photographed by a black man, but the performer also opened up about the intimate health scare she suffered during her 2017 pregnancy.

In one of the essays she penned for Vogue, Beyonce detailed the emergency C-section she was forced to undergo while pregnant with Rumi and Sir, the twins she gave birth to last year.

"I was 218 pounds the day I gave birth to Rumi and Sir. I was swollen from toxemia and had been on bed rest for over a month. My health and my babies' health were in danger, so I had an emergency C-section. We spent many weeks in the NICU. My husband [Jay-Z] was a soldier and such a strong support system for me. I am proud to have been a witness to his strength and evolution as a man, a best friend and a father. I was in survival mode and did not grasp it all until months later. Today I have a connection to any parent who has been through such an experience."

The singer and actress, who shared that she "put pressure on [herself] to lose all the baby weight in three months" following her first pregnancy in 2011-2012, said that after Rumi and Sir's birth, she "approached things very differently."

"It had been major surgery. Some of your organs are shifted temporarily, and in rare cases, removed temporarily during delivery. I am not sure everyone understands that. I needed time to heal, to recover. During my recovery, I gave myself self-love and self-care, and I embraced being curvier. I accepted what my body wanted to be," she wrote.

"After six months, I started preparing for Coachella. I became vegan temporarily, gave up coffee, alcohol and all fruit drinks. But I was patient with myself and enjoyed my fuller curves. My kids and husband did, too," she continued, adding that "it's important for women and men to see and appreciate the beauty in their natural bodies."

"To this day my arms, shoulders, breasts and thighs are fuller. I have a little mommy pouch, and I'm in no rush to get rid of it. I think it's real. Whenever I'm ready to get a six-pack, I will go into beast zone and work my a-- off until I have it. But right now, my little FUPA [fat upper pubic area] and I feel like we are meant to be."